


Ten Years Gone

by spiralicious



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 10th anniversary, Alternate Canon, Angst, F/M, Multi, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-29 02:10:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3878377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiralicious/pseuds/spiralicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toph is visiting Zuko and Mai and Zuko is doing what he does best, angsting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ten Years Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for pinking, Kira!
> 
> This is to celebrate Avatar: The Last Airbender's 10th Anniversary, which was February 21, 2015.

At lot changed in ten years. Zuko carefully touched Toph’s face, blindly tracing her cheeks and nose, while she laughed at his efforts. “Not as easy as it seems, is it, Sparky?” He could hear her smirk, even if he couldn’t see it. 

“You do this to me all the time. At least I haven’t poked you in the eye yet.” 

“One time. Once! And you get to take off the blindfold.” Toph sounded a little more put out by that statement than she normally would have. 

The game had been her idea. It was nice out and who knew how much longer she’d be visiting. They wanted their time to count. What had started as a juvenile game of blind tag had turned into a careful mapping of her face. She told Zuko he’d remember it better that way when she wasn’t around. He was beginning to wonder if she was planning on being gone a very long time this time. 

Toph suddenly turned her head towards something Zuko wasn’t aware of yet. A moment later, he heard someone walk out into the garden. He knew Mai’s footsteps anywhere, even if no one else could hear them. He pulled off the blindfold and regarded his wife. She looked utterly bored, but there was a tiny spark of mischief in her eye. 

“I should have known you two were out here. It’s nearly impossible to drag him out here and then you show up and I can’t keep him inside.” She stood, looking down at them, where they sat together on the ground. 

“It’s too hard to see inside,” was Toph’s only excuse. It was one she used frequently.

“I know,” Mai replied with a soft chuckle as she sat down next to Zuko and laid back. He followed suit. 

They would have made an odd sight, had anyone bothered to look; the firelord laying on his back in the middle of his private garden, staring at the sky with his wife on one side and Toph Beifong on the other. Zuko imagined a life in a secluded far off place where they could just be. He wouldn’t be firelord. They could all bundle up the past and leave it be. There would be pointless arguments and the occasional bouts of mindless destruction. He wasn’t totally delusional, but for the most part, they would be happy.

Zuko looked at Toph. She was curled up against his side, listening to his body, her borrowed robe hanging off her almost indecently. There was something different about her this trip. He couldn’t decipher what it was; something was too calm about her. Physically, she had changed too. He thought she had at any rate. It really hadn’t been that long since he saw her, but he swore her round face was fuller. He thought her breasts might be bigger too, but he couldn’t be sure. She wouldn’t let him touch them too much. He knew her ass was bigger. He’d managed to get a good handful of it when he pulled her into his lap last night. Zuko thought he’d actually managed to surprise her for once, maybe. He wanted to ask her if she was pregnant. He really wanted to ask her if it was his, but he knew he couldn’t ask either question, not really. 

He turned his head to look at Mai. She lay next to him on his other side; close enough that they were touching, but she didn’t cling to him. Her attention was focused on the sky. She hadn’t changed much. Zuko appreciated her quiet, deadly beauty. She wore her long dark hair the way she always had. Her porcelain skin was hidden under perfectly ordered layers of clothing. She still hid her emotions under a mask of boredom. He’d learned to see through it though and could read the very subtle changes. She was growing increasingly restless. They’d planned on having children and they couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t had any yet. He’d watched her hobbies increase as she tried to distract herself from the problem. None of them worked. They had been examined, prodded, and counseled by every physician that anyone could come up with. Nothing was wrong with them. They had tried every suggestion, no matter how crazy. Nothing seemed to help. 

Zuko looked up at the sky again. He longed for his little fantasy world again; one where Toph’s baby would be a blessing instead of the harbinger of marital strife and possible international discord. Mai was never jealous of Toph. They were close. Everyone was happy with their situation, but the timing was disastrous. 

The sky was bright and clear and beautiful, but Zuko could feel the electricity from an approaching storm. 

A lot changed in ten years.


End file.
